Training Log Archive: LilFlip

Played soccer with the summer league team again; we actually ended up playing the same team as last week, and killed them 8-3. Sweet. The only problem is, since they take the top 4 teams and make them duke it out for medals, we're now playing for ~ 9th place or something ridiculous. Great. Didn't score any goals this week, but still had a lot of fun chasing the ball around. Game next week.

Compared to yesterday's race, today went much better... Still started an hour late (one of the organizers, when making an announcement, admitted to SLEEPING IN - WTF?!?). I started at 0:00, so my plan was to have a clean race and stay ahead of as many women as possible... Started out okay, but attacked #2 way too early, and lost at least a minute wandering around in the long grass, only to realize I had headed in too soon. Doh! Completely avoidable. Totally f-cked up #5, I had my head up my ass. Finally found it and vowed to pay more attention to the map... didn't last too long. Attacked #10 poorly, and lost some time there. Started running down the wrong trail on the way to #14, and had to back-track. Left #14 in the wrong direction (I always do that -- I need to wait for my compass to settle or something!?!) and lost a little more time correcting. Didn't know exactly where I was from #15 to #16, even though I was trying to follow the contours. Katta caught me just before #17 (she started 18 min behind me - I knew it was very likely she'd catch me!!), and we ran similar routes to the next couple controls. Then I attacked #20 poorly lost some time, and she was gone.

Overall, a less than satisfying race, but at least it was better than the Middle!!

What can I say... Middle Distance at the COCs... Cluster F--k. 'Nuff said. In spite of a terrible map and poor control setting, I made several dumb errors myself. I guess after a 2-hour delay at the start, I wasn't as mentally focused as I should have been; it felt more like a poorly organized C-meet, and I basically treated the race as such. I was pretty unsure as to where I was for a lot of the race; not certain if it was my fault or the map's, but I'm willing to take equal blame... The SI unit at #1 was not on, so I had to manually punch there (as did a lot of others). Lost several minutes on #3, several more on #5 (actually stumbled upon #6 - one of many mis-placed controls - before the 5th, so I may have one of the shorter splits to #6). #7 was lower in the re-entrant than indicated on the map. #9 was just wonky; I was sure I was in the right place, but eventually saw people leaving a control on a bigger hill up to the West, and, what do you know, it was mine! I would have loved to re-check the positioning of that one... Another big mistake on #11, and some confusing map-reading in the area of 12-16... By then I just wanted to get the hell out of the woods. *Sigh* One race down, two to go...

Warm-up for Middle Distance. Apparently there was supposed to be a shuttle to the start, some 2+ km from the parking area, but nothing materialized... made for a good warm-up opportunity, except for the fact that the start was delayed an extra hour... $&^#*&^%$...

At least Nick got it right!! Apart from a few SI units not turned on (I had to manually punch 4, one less than Katta and a few other women), this race was fantastic, and I actually had a lot of fun!! Lost a little bit of time at the beginning, trying to figure out which way to orient the map (barely saved myself from an embarrassing 180!) and figure out the trails. Also had a couple less than ideal route choices, but was able to maintain a comfortable pace and pretty much spike every control. The only thing I could have done better was run faster and make a few smarter route choices, so I was pleased with this race.

Warm-up run to the start for the Sprint.

Travel day; had planned to get to the model event for some light training and to get a look at the terrain, but ran out of time.

Rest day before COCs this weekend; somewhat futile, as I'll be on my feet all day at work...

Short and sweet. Run to Stanley Park (upstream along Elbow River) and back. A short section of dirt trail and a suspension bridge make it a little more interesting than my regular route. This will be my last run before flying to Toronto on Friday; rest day tomorrow.

Slow, easy run along the river. Feel a little tired and sore from soccer last night - didn't stretch enough. I'm at the tail-end of my cold, but still have some sniffles and continue to "hawk loogies" while I'm running. Lovely. Off to work...

C • I thought it was "hock lugies?... 8

Did some sprints (intervals?) today, mostly flat terrain; ranging lengths (1.30, 1.0, 0.45, 0.30, 1.0, 1.0); rested for equivalent time in between. Nothing serious, just to get the legs turning over and the heart rate up (although, according to my HRM, it's been waaaay up anyway... which seems weird since my rHR is so low). Happy to report no problems with the knee.

Warm-up/cool-down runs... would have liked to go for longer (especially cool-down) but had to get ready for work.

Played some soccer with CK's summer league team - my second game with this team, and their last one of regular season. After several elusive shots, I finally drilled one past the opponents' goalie early in the second half, making the score 5-2 for us. We scored a couple more after that, and the final tally was 7-4 in our favour. This was actually the first game the team had won all season. Finals are next week, and I have been invited to play again; should be interesting.

Shorter run in Windermere; took it really easy, since I'm still worried about the knee. Seemed to be fine, no real pain during the entire run, so that's awesome. The cold seems to be waning, but I'm still a bit phlegmy (sp?); I'm confident I'll be fully healthy for COCs.

Event: Canadian Orienteering Championships Festival
 

Slow, long, easy run in Windermere. Not terribly exciting, but a nice change from the Elbow River bike path! My left knee started getting sore towards the 20 minute mark (remnants of my patellar-femoral pain), but I was able to keep the pain to a minimum... we'll see what tomorrow brings; I'm not going to force it, but I hope it holds up! Not sure if my HRM is working properly, or if I'm really out of shape...

Same route, different day... boring, but I'm too lazy to drive anywhere to find a new route on TRAILS!! I'm dying to run on trails!! Especially in this heat - shade is a precious thing. Doesn't help that I'm super dehydrated. Feeling really heavy and lethargic today, so I cut the run short at the end. No sense in pushing it if I'm not feeling great...